Somali Pirates Give Russia Chance to Flex Muscles

Somali Pirates Give Russia Chance to Flex Muscles (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - November 22, 2008: The rise in piracy off the coasts of Somalia is giving Russia a chance to flex its muscles, with plans to dispatch several warships to the region and even ex-KGB commandos volunteering their services. The Russian frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless) is already patrolling the coastline, and there is talk of Russia reopening a Soviet-era naval base on an island belonging to Yemen in the Gulf of Aden just across from Somalia. Russia's increasingly active role against piracy in Somalia marks its "return to the ranks of world powers," said Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin analyst and a member of parliament from the ruling United Russia party. Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo was quoted by Interfax news agency on Nov. 21 as saying that the navy would have either "one warship or a flotilla of warships" in the Horn of Africa region "on a regular basis." Nikolai Makarov, the head of Russia's general staff, was quoted as saying that Moscow was preparing "a detailed plan for anti-pirate operations in the Gulf of Aden" with naval ships from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea fleets. During a visit to Yemen last month, Sergei Mironov, speaker of Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, even said that Moscow was considering resuming a Soviet-era naval presence in the country. The Pacific fleet of the Soviet navy maintained a naval base on Yemen's Socotra island, which lies off the Horn of Africa. The capture of a Saudi supertanker this week has cast an international spotlight on the piracy problem and redoubled efforts by international powers to combat it. Dozens of vessels have been hijacked so far this year. "It's the chance to show that Russian forces can play a positive role and a more useful role" rather than "showing off on the ocean," said Russian military analyst Alexander Golts, referring to naval exercises carried out by Russia. Also on Nov. 21, KGB-trained commandos from the secret service's feared Vympel division, many of whose members are now private security guards and mercenaries, said they could defeat Somali pirates. "If there is a political will to achieve this aim, we can accomplish it," said Felix Makiyevsky, a former commando with Vympel. Valery Kiselyov, another ex-commando, said former KGB mercenaries could do the job. The Neustrashimy is escorting cargo vessels and chased away pirates on at least two occasions, once jointly with the British frigate Cumberland, officials said. The warship was dispatched in September after pirates seized a Ukrainian vessel, the Faina, laden with dozens of T-72 battle tanks and rounds of ammunition, as well as three Russian nationals among the crew members. But Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's envoy to NATO, said this week: "It's up to the European Union, NATO and others to launch a coastal land operation to eliminate the pirates," adding that this "should be coordinated with Russia." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also called for the U.S., the European and Russia jointly to prevent "lawlessness" by pirates. The U.N. Security Council in October adopted a resolution calling on all countries to use all "necessary means" to fight piracy in the Horn of Africa "in particular by deploying naval vessels and military aircraft."